


Let the Moment Linger

by forgetmequite



Series: A Noble Man's Marriage [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Regency, M/M, POV Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 03:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18112793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetmequite/pseuds/forgetmequite
Summary: The morning after their wedding.





	Let the Moment Linger

Magnus woke up with gentle rays of sunlight on his face, a warm body nestled against his and unmistakable quiet snores that Magnus probably shouldn’t have found adorable in his ears. He didn’t open his eyes but instead breathed in deeply and spared a second to hope he really was awake.

The preceding day had, in every possible way, exceeded his expectations. He’d left home with the intent to marry a man whose intentions he was more cautious than optimistic about, had tried to talk that man out of the marriage only to discover to his astonishment that he was truly wanted as a partner, and eventually had taken his husband home only to be assured that he was also _wanted_ , most earnestly.

The thought was enough to pull a helpless smile to Magnus’s face.

All in all, it almost felt too good to be true, except that when he opened his eyes, he definitely wasn’t dreaming.

The small movement he’d made had been enough to wake Alec up, and Magnus would have been sorry for that had it not been for the radiant smile on Alec’s face as he looked up to meet Magnus’s eye.

“Good morning,” Alec said, like he couldn’t quite believe his luck.

Magnus could relate. “Morning.”

Alec shifted against him, turning to his side to face Magnus. The move put some distance between them, but Magnus couldn’t mind, not with Alec’s eyes watching him softly, like maybe _Alec_ thought that he was still dreaming.

There was only so long that Magnus could stand such undivided adoring attention, though. It made him uncomfortable, like the longer Alec watched him, the more likely it was that his gaze would snag on a flaw that Magnus couldn’t hide and lose interest for ever.

“Did you sleep well, Alexander?”

He said the name slowly and with purpose, like a caress. Last night had taught him a lot about Alec, and one, not insignificant discovery was that Magnus only needed Alec’s own name to distract him. If he’d thought that the blush it could summon to Alec’s face when rolled off Magnus’s tongue was a delight, he now knew that in the right moment, it could ignite a very different kind of fire in his husband, and in some other moment, simply melt him into a happy warmth that wanted nothing more than to have Magnus’s arms around him.

Magnus could hardly wait to learn what else he could do with Alexander.

This morning, the name yielded him a languid smile, a fluttering of Alec’s eyes and warm fingers that sought Magnus’s hand and squeezed it before simply holding on. It felt like something that they’d done a thousand times, despite Magnus’s acute awareness that no one had done that sort of thing to him in decades.

“I did,” Alec said. Magnus watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I- I hope you did, too.”

Magnus ran his thumb over Alec’s hand where it was still clutching Magnus’s. “Most certainly. Although I’m starting to think I woke up even better.”

Alec moved closer, but his eyes were so focused on Magnus that Magnus wasn’t sure if he even realised he was doing it.

“When do you have to get up?”

Magnus almost let out a laugh, but the moment seemed too fragile for it. If he’d been in a melancholy mood, everything the question revealed about Alec’s outlook on life – a barrage of duty with no consideration for his own pleasure – might have been heart-breaking, but Magnus was decidedly in a good mood. In fact, he was feeling downright hedonistic.

“I suppose,” he said, “when I can no longer convince you to stay right here with me.”

Alec blinked, but soon a slow smile began to bloom. He held Magnus’s hand tighter under the blankets.

“Something tells me that, um, we’ll be here a while. You’re very convincing.”

Magnus smiled back at him and pretended to stretch himself a little so that he could have an excuse to move closer. His bed with the thin linen sheets and a goose down mattress was on the whole very comfortable, but the most pleasant part of it at the moment was no doubt the warm body Magnus brushed against.

“I trust no duty calls you away so soon, Alexander. Even shadowhunters must not wish to bother a man less than a day after his wedding.”

Alec’s breath hitched as Magnus’s hand travelled up his side. “Most, um, most shadowhunters marry against their heart. I’ve no idea how they spend the morning after their wedding.” He raised their still joined hands to his mouth and left a line of kisses along Magnus’s knuckles. “I doubt it’s this pleasant.”

Magnus could feel his heart constrict at the words, but he wasn’t going to let it show on his face. Alec had made it clear several times that he wanted a marriage more than in name, but it still did something to Magnus’s insides to hear it affirmed so casually. Alec didn’t need to know that. It was an embarrassing reaction that the ancient and world-wise Magnus Bane did not have, as far as the world was concerned.

He pushed the feeling away and affected a flippant tone. “Should any of your associates think you share in their marital misery, then, my servants have strict orders to pronounce me unavailable before I’ve gone down to breakfast. We’ll not be disturbed so long as we don’t want to.”

Alec held his gaze for a few seconds and evidently liked what he saw, because he reached up to cup the side of Magnus’s face with his hand and kissed Magnus deeply. It did not start as a chaste kiss, and only got more intentional, so it was no surprise to Magnus when Alec eventually broke it only to ask with a hoarse voice, “Can we... Do you want to?”

“Oh, Alexander,” Magnus said, and this time he needed no pretension to have his voice be light, “I thought you’d never ask.”

No one came along requesting to see either of them for the whole morning, which was fortunate, because it was well past noon when Magnus finally slid on a morning robe, accepted a lingering kiss from his husband and rang for breakfast.


End file.
